It's do or die for them and for us, says Sundowns' Mdunyelwa ahead of CAF semi-final

Mamelodi Sundowns are bracing themselves for an onslaught in their CAF Champions League second-leg semi-final with Esperance set to come out “guns blazing” at Loftus Versveld on Sunday, according to defender Zuko Mdunyelwa.

Sundowns currently hold a 1-0 advantage, courtesy of Colombian striker Brayan Leon’s second half header, but the Tunisian giants are renowned for their dominant second-leg displays away from home. Esperance outgunned Egyptian rivals 3-2 in Cairo during the quarterfinal.

“We are expecting them to come out all guns blazing because it's do or die for them and for us,” Mdunyelwa told the media on Wednesday.

“The talk amongst the players is to understand that the assignment is not done as yet. The away game was just the first half and the second half is coming up on Saturday.”

Mdunyelwa, though, believes that with Esperance having to chase the game in a bid to overturn the first-leg deficit, especially with Sundowns having scored an away goal, it could work in the Brazilians’ favour.

“It's an advantage for us because we are an attacking team, so if they are going to come at us, they will definitely leave spaces for us and we love to play when the game is more open,” he said.

The former Cape Town City stalwart believes Sundowns' quest to reach a second successive CAF Champions League final is bigger than just the ambitions of the Pretoria-based club.

“It would mean a lot for us but most importantly it would mean a lot for the club and for our supporters and that's what we're looking forward to giving them,” Mdunwelya said.

“I would like to say that we are representing South Africa. We are representing each province that is in South Africa. We are representing South African football.”